Country: Suriname

Group: Javanese (Yampanesi)

Date Finalized: 03/16/2021

Team: Alicia Hernandez (lead), Abigail Pentecost, Rayna Castillo, Nusrat Nijum

Content Warning: forced labor

Approximate Time Period: 1863-1917

            Suriname abolished slavery in 1863, which created labor shortages in the Dutch colony for sugar cane production (Hoefte, 2008). To supply its colony with more laborers, the Dutch government facilitated the immigration of people from Java to Suriname (Hoefte, 2008; Menke 2020). Officially, the Javanese people were considered contract workers because they signed five-year contracts with the Dutch colonial government. However, the contract included poor working conditions such as working countless hours and making 40-60 Dutch cents a day (Van der Kroef, 1951). Moreover, the contract workers were supposed to receive funds to return to Indonesia at the end of their contract. However, many indentured servants acquired debts and started families without receiving their promised benefits and pay. Consequently, many Javanese could not return to their homeland (Van der Kroef, 1951).

            There is evidence that the Javanese experienced forced labor. They received wages far below the amount promised and worked numerous hours without benefits.  Moreover, during the time of their contract, they were not free to leave. The data quality is rated a 2, because the sources found lacked specific details.

References

  1. Hoefte, R. (2008). The Javanese of Suriname. Inside Indonesia, 92.  Retrieved from https://www.insideindonesia.org/the-javanese-of-suriname on March 16, 2020
  2. Menke, J. (2020). Suriname. Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Suriname on March 16, 2020
  3. Northrup, D. (2000). In Place of Slavery: A Social History of British Indian and Javanese Laborers in Suriname. Hispanic American Historical Review, 80(2), 356-357. Retrieved from doi:10.1215/00182168-80-2-356 on March 16, 2020
  4. Van der Kroef, J. M. (1951). The Indonesian Minority in Surinam. American Sociological Review, 16(5), 672. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2307/2087361 on March 16, 2020